1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning decorative automotive wheels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Present day automobile wheels are often constructed with attractive designs to generate customer appeal. Customer demand is such that many different styles and configurations of wheels are necessary to meet the diverse taste of customers.
There has developed a very lucrative market for both OEM and aftermarket wheels constructed with numerous different styles of spoke and aperture configurations combined to present an eye pleasing design. Many of these wheels incorporate attractive finishes which may be constructed of expensive metal platings and the like. Such finishes often require a great degree of care in order to maintain a clean attractive appearance. This demands leads to a challenge for the automobile owner in keeping the wheels clean. The challenge is often complicated by fact that the various brake pads rely on liner material for generating frictional resistance to relative movement between the pad and a brake surface wherein the high friction material is subject to slight degradation and generation of dark colored dust and powders during the braking process. This can then leave the wheel and various component parts thereof covered with a dark colored graphite dust or similar powder material which detracts from the appearance of the automobile wheel.
What adds to the challenge of effective wheel cleaning is the fact that popular wheel designs often incorporate recesses, holes, crevices and spaces which have endless numbers of shapes, sizes and angles thus exhibiting a challenge to effective access by presently known cleaning brushes and pads. Commonly used tools, such as oversized sponges, long bristle brushes and sets of brushes with specific sizes and shapes have not provided a satisfactory solution. As an example, in many wheel designs, the depressions and openings therein are formed with radially inwardly turned peripheral lips which often collect dust and grime which is difficult to access with a typical sponge or brush. Those depressions and crevices often incorporate a triangular configuration such that a brush sized for ready access to the enlarged end of the triangle cannot be slid into the narrow end of the triangular crevice thus preventing access to the inturned peripheral lips for adequate cleaning thereof. Also, the effort to utilize a set of multiple brushes of different sizes and shapes is generally impractical. The expense of acquiring such sets of brushes and the challenge of having the properly sized brush readily available at the time it is needed renders the overall proposition quite unsatisfactory.
Many modern day wheel designs often incorporate a recessed lug nut hole pattern wherein the lug nuts are recessed within a generally cylindrically shaped lug nut well such that an annular space of about xe2x85x9 inch is formed between such lug nut and the wall of the well. This often results in restricting access to the wall of the lug nut well thus resulting in dirt, grime and dust being left on the lug nuts and the lug nut well walls thus leaving an unsightly appearance after the cleaning task is completed.
Various different proposals have been made for solving these various problems. As an example, it has been proposed to provide a polishing tool having an elongated stem mounting on one side a series of tufts of brush bristles and on the other side a layer of spongelike material configured in a V-shape for accessing specifically shaped crevices and depressions. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,857 to Sellers. Such devices, while satisfactory for certain applications, have limited utility and have not been broadly accepted in the marketplace.
In recognition of the need for a device for cleaning lug nut wells, it has been proposed to provide a generally tubular shaped sponge configured to be received telescopically within the lug nut well. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,686 to Gronkiewicz. This proposed solution is little better than the proposal that sets of differently configured brushes may be provided in that the worker does not find it convenient to turn to a multiple number of tools for achieving the cleaning task.
Consequently, there exists a need for a wheel cleaning tool for accessing wheel indentations and apertures having different shapes, sizes and configurations and which accommodates wide ranges of such configurations. It is preferable if the cleaning task could be undertaken without subjecting the finish of the wheel to harsh rigid surfaces which might result in dragging grit over the finish resulting in scratching thereof.
The present invention is characterized by a wheel cleaning device having an elongated handle and stem with an elongated foam pad being received on such stem and formed with sections of rings configured with different transverse cross sections for allowing access to different sizes and shapes of crevices and holes within a wheel to be cleaned.
In some embodiments, the stem is cruciform shaped and configured to taper inwardly toward the distal end thereof.
In other configurations, the pad is constructed of discrete foam rings and such rings may be formed with radially projecting flexible ribs which flex under applied forces to enhance accommodation of the contour and size of different shaped crevices.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.